Joseph Stalin played a very important role in the history of Soviet Russia. He was exposed to Karl Marx’s ideas at a very young age in the Tiflis Theological Seminary school he was enrolled in. He continued with these ideas throughout the early years of his life; modifying them as he went along. Eventually, Stalin came to power in Eastern Europe. In my opinion, Stalin was a harsh and hypocritical leader. He did not have fair policies and he changed them to apply to a particular problem he was facing. Joseph Stalin in Soviet Russia was harsh, hypocritical and forceful.

Stalin made a name for himself when he joined the Social Democratic Labor Party in 1901. After the overthrow of Nicholas II, Stalin did not think that the Russian people were ready for a Socialist revolution, apposing what Vladimir Lenin thought. Lenin was the leader of the Socialists at the time. When Lenin heard about this, he made Stalin choose. He could either challenge Lenin for the leadership of the Socialists, or he could change his mind about the revolution and remain loyal to Lenin. Stalin chose to stay loyal to Lenin in an article he wrote. Lenin was pleased with Stalin, and appointed him Commissar of Nationalities. Stalin told people that the new Soviet government promised “complete freedom for the Finnish people, and for other peoples of Russia, to arrange their own life”. This meant that he supported the idea of self-determination and making a life for yourself. After a while, Stalin found it hard to control the non-Russian people under his power. They were creating many independent states without his agreement. These states were often hostile to Stalin and his government. This made Stalin change his policies so that self-determination was not allowed. In 1939, Stalin made a pact with Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, which divided the two powers.

Taking all of this into consideration, my opinion on Joseph Stalin is that he was a harsh, hypocritical ruler who wasn’t fair. His ideas...

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...The rise of JosephStalin.
JosephStalin was the authoritarian leader of the Soviet Union for 31 years between 1922 and his death in 1953. During this time, he revolutionised the Russian economy with a combination of rapid industrialisation and centralised economic collectivism, reforms that in some instances caused massive devastation in rural parts of the country (including the famine of 1932-1933, in which up to 6m people starved to death). A hugely controversial figure on the global political stage, Stalin carried out ruthless purges of the Soviet military, political and judicial classes (Applebaum, 2004), sending political opponents to work in work camps (or gulags) in Siberia from which few ever returned.
He also led Russia into a non-aggression pact with Germany's Adolf Hitler that lasted until Hitler's spectacular miscalculation in June 1941 when the German army attempted to invade the Soviet Union. Upon Stalin's death in 1953, he was simultaneously one of the most revered and feared political leaders in modern times, and the influence of his shadow remains strong in Russia even today.
Before the Russian revolution of 1917, Stalin was a Bolshevik operative in the Causacus, organising resistance against the Tsar. This earned him the respect and trust of Vladimir Lenin, who invited Stalin to join the highest levels of Bolshevik power, although others - including...

...﻿Was Stalin a Progressive or a Conservative?
Although Stalin was a progressive in the economic aspect that he implemented the First and Second Five-Year Plans, which developed industry in Russia, as well as in the social aspect that he put forth a new education system, Stalin more so portrayed elements of conservatism. Stalin’s social, economic, and political policies and actions that conserved parts of Lenin’s regime including the NKVD secret police that executed and exiled opposition to Stalin, slave labor in Gulag camps, the Great Purge which removed many members of the Communist Party and Red Army, and the continuation of Lenin’s New Economic Policy were more important than his progressive changes because they influenced his government the most.
Stalin’s most significant progressive policy was the series of Five-Year Plans implemented especially the First and Second Five-Year Plans, which sent Russia in the path of industrial development. The First Five-Year Plan was put into action in 1929 and it emphasized heavy industries such as coal, iron, steel, and electricity. Farming methods were also changed from kulak-run farms to collectivization, which grouped 50-100 individual farms into a system of kolkhoz, larger state-owned farms. Collectivization was very successful and it made farming more efficient, since tractors and combined harvesters began to be utilized. By 1932, two thirds of Russian farmland was...

...1924, Russia was faced with JosephStalin who ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist for 24 years. Stalin rarely appeared to be what he really was and consistently was underestimated by his opponents, allowing him to gain support and create fear in the Russian people’s lives. Although Stalin faced much opposition, his manipulating ways allowed him to bypass this through purges, control on media, and his use of propaganda.Stalin pushed the Soviet Union into world power, but with this power he forced his nation upon one of the most ruthless reigns in history.
As Stalin gained power in Russia, his opposition grew within the Communist party. Initially Stalin was a mediator, between the two main factions, in the debate about when to replace the New Economic Policy, and what to replace it with. The left of the party, Trotsky, and his supporters, wanted the New Economic Policy to be replaced, as soon as possible with a centrally planned economy, and for all farms to be collectivized. The right of the party, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin, wanted to maintain the New Economic Policy, and a gradualist approach to collectivization.
After the defeat of Trotsky and the Left Opposition, Stalin shifted his position to the left - taking most of Trotsky's ideas and re-framing them as his own. Bukharin supported Stalin as he began to demolish the...

...JosephStalin dominated the soviet scene to a degree unequaled in the United States by Truman or even Roosevelt. Stalin was born in the Russian empire’s southern province of Georgia in 1879. He began studying for the priesthood but was thrown out of seminary for revolutionary activity and some believe because of laziness. After the 1917 Bolshevik revolution he climbed to prominence in the new ruling communist party thanks to his administrative skills and adroit political maneuvering and building up a following of supporters. Following Lenin’s death in 1924, Stalin made himself the dominant figure in the party. The concentration of power at the top made it easy for Stalin to fully consolidate his control by 1929 and to make the party0state serve, as an extension of his will and vision for almost a quarter-century. Stalin brought to his era of unchallenged control a variety of striking personality traits. Stalin was neither intellectually cultivated nor well traveled. He was domineering leader who insisted on making final decision on a wide range of issues. Comrades either turned into servile courtiers full of praise for the “Genius Leader” or fell victim to his mistrust. Paranoia drove him to fix blame for errors that h he regarded as serious whether in family matters or national affairs. (Hunt, 2003)
Starting in the late 1920s, JosephStalin...

...JosephStalin, has been a great leader of the Soviet Union dating back to1929. Born on December 18th, 1879 to the Full name Iosef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili he later shortened it to JosephStalin meaning “Man of Steel,” derived form the Russian word “stal.”(Biography, 2011) Although Stalin did not begin ruling Russia at an early age his years of dictatorship did, starting back in 1912. From then on his leadership began to climb towards the high dominion he’s so well known for today! Stalin came across many obstacles and encountered many stepping stones on his way to superior authority. Each marked and important event in the Soviet Union’s path to excellence. Even though some of his people did not make it through his govern ship, he has made Russia a better country in which we live today.
When Stalin first joined a secret revolutionary group in 1898 he became familiar with many protests. This sparked his first encounter with a position in government. In 1901 Stalin began writing for the Brdzola which published many of his revolutionary articles and ideas(Simkin, 1978). Towards the end of 1901, he was accepted into the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party but only six years later, in 1907 he was expelled (Biography 2011). Why you ask? In between that time frame Stalin was taken into custody multiple times for numerous crimes and even exiled out...

...JosephStalin lived from 1879 till 1953. Stalin was one of the most ruthless communist dictators of all time. After Lenin’s death, Stalin pushed his way to the top and was set out to make the Soviet Union into an industrial power. In 1928, Stalin proposed the Five Year Plans, which were to build heavy industry, transportation, and an increase in farm production. This initial attempt to industrialize the country was generally successful, but collectivization was extremely unpopular and was resisted by the peasants. In response Stalin had millions of them killed, or allowed them to starve. Stalin said that the Soviet Union was behind the rest of the world in industry and agriculture, and needed to catch up fast. Stalin also made all economic activity under government control. Under this command economy, he owned all businesses and made all economic decisions. Even though Stalin had complete control over the Soviet Union, he still felt that people were going against him. In the Great Purge, Stalin went after and killed anyone that proposed any kind of threat to him. In the end, almost 800,000 people were killed. Stalin used propaganda and nationalism to brainwash the people of the Soviet Union. He censored poems, paintings, statues, newspaper, radio, and text. Everything needed to support him, communism, or nationalism. Even...

...JosephStalinJosephStalin was a ruthless leader, capable of engendering near-fanatic loyalty in his followers. Nikita Khrushchev, who followed Stalin to power, characterized Stalin's leadership as creating a cult of personality. Like many leaders who abuse their power, Stalin was the most brutal, who had a huge impact on the Russian Revolution.
As a dictator Stalin was very strict about his policies, especially with working. He created the centrally planned economy in the Soviet Union in order to expand its industries and become a modern industrial power, carrying out Lenin’s dreams of industrial development. What made Stalin what he is known today and throughout years is his childhood background, his sudden ride to power, his ultimate five year plans, and finally Stalin’s’ death controversies.
JosephStalin had a rough childhood, being the only child and living with foster parents. “Stalin was born on December 21, 1879, in Gori, a town near Tbilisi, in Georgia, a
mountainous area in the southwestern part of the Russian empire” (Dudley 15). Stalin's real name was Losif Vissarionovich Djugshvil. In 1912, he was adopted by a family with the last name of Stalin, which means "man of steel". Stalin's father was a local shoe maker and his mother worked as a washday. They lived in a small shack. Their...

...Amongst the Bolshevik revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalin was appointed general secretary of the party's Central Committee in 1922. He subsequently managed to consolidate power following the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin through suppressing Lenin's criticisms (in the postscript of his testament) and expanding the functions of his role, all the while eliminating any opposition. He remained general secretary until the post was abolished in 1952, concurrently serving as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1941 onward.
Under Stalin's rule, the concept of "socialism in one country" became a central tenet of Soviet society. He replaced the New Economic Policy introduced by Lenin in the early 1920s with a highly centralised command economy, launching a period of industrialization and collectivization that resulted in the rapid transformation of the USSR from an agrarian society into an industrial power.[2] However, the economic changes coincided with the imprisonment of millions of people in correctional labour camps.[3] The initial upheaval in agriculture disrupted food production and contributed to the catastrophic Soviet famine of 1932–1933, known as the Holodomor in Ukraine. Altogether Stalin's economic and political policies resulted in the deaths of up to 10 million peasants during 1926-1934. Between 1934 and 1939 he organized and led a massive purge (known as "Great Purge") of the party, government, armed forces and...